Internal-combustion-engine equipment.



E. M. KRAMER.

INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE EQUIPMENT.

' APPLICATION FILED JAN. 31, 1914.

Patented Feb. 23, 1915.

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1 i l I Y M. KRAMER, or PAXTON, rumors.

mnnuan oomnus'rron-nnemn EQUIPMENT.

Specification of letters Patent.

Application filed January 31, 1914. Serial No. 815,718.

To-all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, *EMIL M. KRAMER,

I a citizen of the United States, residing at Paxton, in the county of Ford andState'of Illinois, have inventeda new and usefulIm- .provement in Internal-Gombustion-Engine Equipment, of which the following is a specificatio I I have discovered that internal combustion engines operate much more efiiciently and with greater economy inthe use of fuel when the charges fired in the cylinders of the engines contain an appreciable amount of water-vapor; it being the object of my present invention to provide means whereby charges for ignition in the engine shall contain the desired amount of water-vapor.

Referring to the accompanying drawing Figure 1 is a view in elevation, partly diagrammatic, of an internal combustion en-. .gine, with a radiator and carbureter therefor, as commonly used on automobiles, and means constructed in accordance with my invention for supplying damp air to the carbureter, and Fig. 2, a similar viewvof, a portion of the apparatus of Fig. 1 somewhat modified.

In Fig. 1, I have shown my invention as applied to internal combustionengine equipment as used on automobiles, in which 3 is the engine, 4 the inlet-pipe for conducting explosive charges from the carbureter 5 into the cylinders of the engine, 6 is the exhaust manifold, and 7 the radiator usually employed for cooling the water used for cooling the engine.

. The carbureter shown may be of any suitable construction as commonly used. In the drawings, the gasolene inlet for the car bureter is not shown, but the air-inlets therefor are. In some makes of carbureters, a plurality of air-inlets are provided, but it is immaterial, so far as my invention is concerned, whether one or more of such inlets are employed. In the carbureter shown, two air-inlets for supplying the air for mixture with the gasolene supplied to the carbureter in any suitable way, are provided, these inlets being represented at 8 and 9 and shown as connected with the branches 10 and 11, respectively, of a pipe 12, the other end of which opens into the upper end of a chamber 13, the lower end of this chamber communicating with a return pipe 14 which opens into the bottom of the radiator 7. A

pipe 15 leads from the'chamber 13, below the open end ofthe pipe 12, into-the upper end of the radiator, munication with the atmosphere opens at one end into the up er end of the radiator 7 and preferably, at its opposite end, into an-air heatmg chamber 17 surrounding the eiglizgust pipe 6 and perforatedasindicated a It will be noted that the air drawn into Patented Feb. 23, 915.

and a pipe 16 in comthe carbureter 5 by the suction action of the engine is thus drawn through the radiator 7 wherein, during the operation of the engine, the water is brought to steaming condition, which causes the air, preferably heated in the chamber 17, to become charged with water-vapor before entering the carbureter, the chamber 13 servingto conduct condensed vapor back into the radiator 7.

In the arrangement illustrated in Fig. 2, the pipe 16, instead of opening into the radiator 7 opens into the chamber 13 preferably below the pipe 15, the air sucked into the carbureter 5, in this case, becoming charged with moisture which enters the chamber 13 through the pipe 15.

It will be readily understood from the foregoing that water-vapor in approximately uniform quantities is mixed with the air and gasolene-to form the charges to be fired in the cylinders of the engine, and that by my invention the advantages resulting from the mixture of water-vapor with the air and gasolene or the like, may be availed of.

While I have shown certain arrangements of parts for carrying out my invention, I do not wish to be understood as intending to limit it thereto, for various modifications and alterations therein may be made without departing from the spirit of my invention. Thus, for example, if desired, any other suitable source of water-vapor supply than that furnished by the radiator of the engine may be utilized.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is" 1. The combination with an internal combustion engine, of a source of water-vapor and air supply including aatank forwater andmeans for heating the water, a separating chamber, a pipe open at one end into said tank and at its opposite end'into said chamber, a second pipe opening into said chamber and into the cylinder, or cylinders,

of the engine, and means in said second pipe for mixing the air and steam with gasolene, or the like.

2. The combination with an internal combustion engine, of a source of water-vapor and air supply, including a tank for water and means for heating the water, a separatingchamber, a pipe open at one end into said tank and at its opposite end into said chamber, a second'pipe opening into said chamber and into the cylinder, or cylinders, of the engine, means in said second pipe for mixing air and steam with gasolene, or the like, and a return-pipe extending from said chamber to said tank, for the purpose set forth.

3. The combinationwith an internal combustion engine, of a vsource of air and watervapor supply, a carbureterconnected with pipe.

EMIL M. KRAMER. In presence of A; C. FISCHER, D. G. THORSEN. 

